Sonia Gandhi and Sushil Kumar Shinde during their visit to the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, yesterday.
Bodh Gaya/New Delhi: Home Minister Shushilkumar Shinde yesterday said the NIA is probing the serial bombings at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya and answers would be known after the investigation was over.
“A detailed investigation into the serial bomb explosions at Bodh Gaya is going on by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) and the NSG (National Security Guard),” Shinde told mediapersons in Bodh Gaya after his visit to the temple complex and other places where 10 bombs exploded early Sunday.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi accompanied him to the 1,500-year-old temple.
The home minister refused to answer if terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) was behind the attack or if there were any security lapses behind the incident.
“I can’t say if the IM was behind it or not till the NIA probe is over,” said Shinde. The centre had alerted the state, he said.
“Delhi Police had given information in October. Bihar deputy inspector general of police had taken a security review on July 3 and spoken to the local security force,” said Shinde.
“The NIA will look into any lapses,” he said.
The home minister maintained that there was no delay in sending the NIA teams to the blast site.
“We sent the teams by air but due to thunderstorms and bad weather in between, the flight had to turn back and they reached the site at 4pm,” he said.
“We don’t want to arrest anyone in a hurry and want to go into details and arrest the main people responsible,” he said.
According to the home minister, of the 13 bombs placed at the site Sunday morning, 10 went off between 5am and 6am.
“It seems small gas cylinders weighing two to three kg were used, and they contained nails and ball bearings. Initial investigation shows that the bombs were placed in the night and three or four people could be involved,” he said.
The “centre would look into” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s request to deploy Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the temple, said Shinde.
The centre is considering the request of Bihar and Maharashtra governments to provide Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cover to popular shrines, Shinde said yesterday.
“Both states have said they will pay for it. We need to examine it as the CISF has a limited role. We are considering the requests,” Shinde told reporters here.
The home minister said there had been alerts issued to states over threats to various shrines like the Siddhivinayak and Mahalaxmi temples in Mumbai, and the police has taken action. “Inputs have been given to states. Police is taking action,” Shinde said.
The Bodh Gaya temple is a Unesco World Heritage site. It is where the Buddha, who was born in neighbouring Nepal, attained enlightenment around 2,550 years ago.
Meanwhile, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team visited the Mahabodhi temple, an official said here yesterday. “Our Patna team visited the site the very next day after the blast. Their reports have confirmed that only a few modern structures were damaged. The ancient structure is unscratched,” B R Mani, ASI Additional Director General, said.
Even though the 1,500-year-old Mahabodhi temple is not an ASI-protected site, the ASI team visited it after the serial blasts to ascertain the nature of damage as repairs to the structure, a Unesco World Heritage site, were entrusted to it.
The report submitted by the ASI said the modern staircase near the Bodhi tree on the western side of the temple, which is believed to be the spot where the Buddha attained enlightenment about 2,500 years ago, is damaged.
Windowpanes of the lamp house on the southern side of the main temple are broken, and the wooden rack near the main entrance of the Mahabodhi temple, where the shoes of pilgrims and devotees are stacked, was partly damaged.
The outside of the brick structure of the small shrines on the northern side of the temple too was partly damaged.
The ancient structure of the Mahabodhi temple is estimated to have been built between 5th and 6th century AD. It was a long-lost structure that was re-discovered in the nineteenth century by Alexander Cunningham, who along with then viceroy Lord Canning, founded the ASI in 1861.
Agencies
